


Sunflower

by scrubbadub



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/No Comfort, M/M, Time Travel AU, mostly setting up for the actual au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrubbadub/pseuds/scrubbadub
Summary: After years of fighting off the Icy Claw of the South and protecting the Pure Heart Valley, Mao Mao ruminates.They're running out of options.
Relationships: Mao Mao & Badgerclops (Platonic), Mao Mao Mao/King Snugglemagne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	Sunflower

**Author's Note:**

> Most info on the Time Travel AU can be found in the #mao mao time travel au tag on Tumblr on the blog @kytters, including character designs.

There’s not much Mao Mao expects to see when watching the valley from his home near the Pure Heart town, and he’s appreciative of that fact.

He’s spent too long trying to keep this valley safe. The rest of the world he feels guilty about, but he’s spread himself thin too many times to try and keep this place safe as well as everything else, and… well, he should have expected to fail with at least one of those quests.

After all, if Shin Mao couldn’t even defeat the Icy Blade of the North, then why did he expect to be able to?

There’s a throat clear behind him. Flicking an ear, he glances over without turning his head, acknowledging Badgerclops’ presence.

“You mopin’ again, dude?”

He harrumphs quietly. “I am not _moping._ Just… thinking.”

Striding over to rest on the balcony beside him, Badgerclops looks down at him, then back out at the valley. “So you’re _definitely_ moping. Got it.”

Mao Mao scowls. “I am not _moping!!!!_ I-- you wouldnt get it.”

“I mean,” Badgerclops turns to look at him again, keeping his gaze level, and speaks. “We’re literally fighting the same battle here, Mao Mao. I get it a lot better than you think I do. Thorn can only break into the valley so many times, I’m well aware, like, we have to think of a better contingency plan, yadda yadda- it’s what’s goin’ through your mind! Your little guy mind--”

“ _Don’t you patronize me._ ” He shoves Badgerclops away from him and steps away from the balcony, balling his fists. Badgerclops just levels him with a disappointed frown. 

“Hey!” He starts. “Come on, don’t shove!”

“You’re treating this like it’s still some fucking game! You’ve seen what he’s done, and you just, you can stand there and treat it like it’s some _child’s play mission?!_ ” Pointing an accusing finger at him, Mao Mao turns, grabbing at the fur on the side of his head. “What are we going to do when he eventually figures out how to get through the Pure Heart’s defenses for good? How will we defeat the army he’s amassed?! He defeated my _father_ , what makes you think we could possibly defeat him like _this?!_ He’s _still_ recovering, not to mention his ego’s shot, and if he doesn’t think he can do it, then what hope do _we_ have that he’ll get up off of that couch and _try?!_ ”

“We don’t _need_ your dad to defeat Ironclaw! I’ve told this to you a million times, Mao Mao, you’re the one who’s faced this guy off at _least_ seven times now and escaped relatively unscathed, when Snugglemagne--” Badgerclops flinches back a step when he steps forward, ears pinned back. 

Mao Mao grits his teeth. “Don’t you dare bring Snugglemagne into this.” 

“... yeah, okay, that was a low blow. I’m sorry.” Hands raised defensively, Badgerclops concedes, and Mao Mao lets out a breath of air, unclenching his fists. 

“... we’re not _winning_ , Badgerclops. We’re backed into a corner. This is all I have left. If I make one wrong move…” It’s over if he slips up. He’ll lose the Valley and lose what little freedom he’s managed to preserve for these people. The Sweetiepies… they’re weak. Not in a bad way, but in the way that people who have never had to face real, troublesome hardship are weak. Physically and emotionally. He knows they feel it, the tension waiting just outside of the confines of the Valley, but they don’t understand it, cannot comprehend it, and he would never want them to have to feel that under any circumstances in its entirety. If he were to fail, he would be complicit. 

He doesn’t know if he can bear the weight of that kind of failure. No wonder his father is having a hard time bouncing back from his own loss. 

If he were to lose, he would lose all he’s built with Snugglemagne, too. Every minute of teaching him humility, of dancing in the dark, of over-the-top engagements that he really did not appreciate in the moment, reconciled afterwards in a more meaningful and heartfelt way, he just- he _can’t lose that._

Losing the one good thing he’s had in life would kill him. Ironclaw would make him suffer to see that. He knows that deep down. 

Frowning, Badgerclops looks back out towards the valley, then over at the dojo. “Okay, but how are we _supposed_ to win? We’ve been trying everything! He’s too powerful, Mao Mao, we’ve gotten our butts kicked, what… at least a hundred times now?” 

Badgerclops makes a point, even if it’s not a point he enjoys. Pursing his lips, he looks back over at the dojo, then at Badgerclops. His gaze drifts to his robotic arm. 

A thought drifts to the top of his mind and he narrows his eyes. “... maybe we don’t _have to_ beat him _now._ ” 

Badgerclops crosses his arms. “I’m not following.” 

Invigorated, now, Mao Mao pushes off of the balcony and starts towards the dojo, pausing. There’s a frenzied energy in his bones, now. He knows what he has to do. “Don’t you get it, Badgerclops?! As much as I hate admitting you’re right, you _are_. Now, he’s too powerful, but in the _past?_ We can go back then, stop him before he has the chance to gain this much ground, and prevent all of this from _ever_ happening!”

He stops when he sees the worried look on Badgerclops’ face. His companion replies quietly. “... but what about everyone else here? What’ll happen to them?”

That… was something he had not yet considered. Thinking for a moment, he settles on an answer before striding up to Badgerclops, resting a gloved hand on one of his arms. “That’s a sacrifice we have to be willing to make. We’re running out of time, Badgerclops. He’s getting closer to discovering the way to break into the Valley for good with every passing day. If we do this - if we succeed in stopping him _before_ he has a chance to gain that foothold - then we won’t… we won’t have to worry about what’ll happen to us _now._ We’ll be safe then.”

There’s a very long few minutes that pass before Badgerclops sighs, and Mao Mao watches as he rubs at his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. “... I’ll have to start running variables and figure out an appropriate jump point, it’s not gonna be easy, you _know_ that. How much time can we buy?”

Mao Mao grins, sharp and tense. “As long as we need.”

That’s all they can get, after all.


End file.
